The British family of an Israeli hostage freed from Gaza on Saturday have described a “pendulum of emotions” as he was released 16 months after his capture.
Eli Sharabi’s brother-in-law Steve Brisley, who lives in Bridgend, Wales, expressed joy at his release, but voiced concerns over Mr Sharabi’s gaunt appearance and whether he knew his wife and daughters had been killed in the 7 October attack.
Mr Sharabi, 52, was taken by Hamas from Kibbutz Beeri on 7 October, while his British-born wife, Lianne, and two teenaged daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were found murdered in their home.
He was one of three hostages handed to the Red Cross by Hamas in a choreographed release in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Mr Brisley told the BBC he was experiencing “the whole pendulum of emotions – joy and relief through to heartache and everything in between”.
“To finally have confirmation that he’s alive and that he’s coming out is obviously what we’ve been working towards for last 15,16 months, but to see him paraded in the way he was in that propaganda fashion was incredibly difficult,” Mr Brisley told BBC Breakfast mere minutes after Mr Sharabi was released to the Red Cross.
“And to see the physical state of him – on one hand he’s upright and walking independently at least, but he’s gaunt, thin and just the light gone from his eyes.
“All the way through this, we’ve not known if he was alive or dead,” he said.
Mr Sharabi’s name being on a list of hostages to be released on Saturday was the first confirmation that the family had of him being alive since the attack in 2023, Mr Brisley said.
Mr Sharabi’s father-in-law Pete Brisley, who also lives in Bridgend, says there were no witnesses to the attack on the Sharabi home, which means the family does not know whether he is aware of the deaths of his family.
“We still don’t know whether he knows that he’s lost his family, his wife and daughters because nobody knows whether he saw them murdered or whether he was taken outside before,” he told the BBC’s Lucy Manning.
“It’s just very, very emotional here,” he said.
Lianne Sharabi was Pete Brisley’s daughter and Steve Brisley’s sister, and Noiya and Yahel their granddaughters and nieces respectively.
“We’ll find out some time in the next couple of hours, because his mum and his sister are waiting at the hospital to greet him,” Pete Brisley said.
“I would think his first question will be, where are they?
“If he did see them murdered, then he’s had to live with that for the last 15 months, 16 months.”
The release of Mr Sharabi, and also Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, comes under the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, which came into effect on 19 January.
The deal sees a total of 33 hostages taken on 7 October released in weekly hand-overs in exchange for 1,900 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Israel is releasing 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. More than 70 are serving life or long sentences; others are Gazans detained during the war.
On 7 October Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when it attacked Israel, triggering the war.
At least 47,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
About two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, the UN says.
